Repair The World NYC – 808 Nostrand Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11216

Current circumstances have exacerbated the existing crisis of food insecurity in this country.  Meanwhile, an unexpected consequence of the pandemic has been reconnecting us to how and what we eat as we spend more time at home. In Hillel Smith’s paired murals, What Sustains Us, he was inspired by the two quotes bracketing the beginning and end of Birkat Hamazon (the traditional prayer said after eating): “Hazan et hakol” (thanking God for sustaining everything and everyone) and “Na’ar Hayiti v’gam zakanti v’lo raiti tzadik ne’ezav…” (I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken…) He has designed a language of faces and body parts built out of utensils and food items—spoons, forks, knives, fruits, and veggies—that offer fun and whimsical encouragement to think about all that connects our bodies to what we eat. 

Repair the World’s Brooklyn office, which used to host and social services, had pivoted to food distribution and wanted the space to remain welcoming while closed. Meanwhile, the block had become full of vacant storefronts. This mural brightens the block, and still allowed staff to see outside through the spoon-windows.

The blessing of “Hazan et hakol,” translated as “who sustains everything,” and appearing in stylized letters in the top right corner of this mural, prompts us to consider the ways that we are sustained through food. Food nourishes us physically, of course, but how does it nourish us emotionally? How does food sustain connections to family, community, and history?